How to Build a Chocolate Bridge

Happy March, readers!

It’s that time of year where I can start seeing the blooms in my garden, and bringing them into my home. I love being surrounded by plant life as I write.

Before I tell you about the next lot of Women’s Prize Non Fiction long-listed books I’ve been consuming, here is my latest creation. At the end, I also share my character for this month.

I’ll be speaking at the Books in the Park event in Beckenham soon!

Creating ~How to Build a Chocolate Bridge

My books take years to create. And they’re hardly just my books, so many talented people work on bringing my words to life. I’ve already been working on my next adult nonfiction book for two years, and it won’t come out till 2028. So, in the meantime, I am absolutely over the bridge (gettit?) to share my next children’s book, out on 20 April.

After two children’s books which delve into engineering, history, science and geography, I wanted to do something more hands on — after all, doing experiments is a memorable experience for children, and adults — they stick in our minds as we grow and move through school. I still remember making animals out of toilet roll tubes, and towers out of spaghetti decades later.

In How To Build a Chocolate Bridge, I explore the science of materials. We are surrounded by materials, each of which has its own unique properties. And, we are engineering objects that fill our modern lives. So how do we select the right material for the right thing? More excitingly, what if we threw all sense out the (glass) window, and choose completely the wrong material to make something?!

Enter the chocolate bridge. And gummy bear swimming pool, concrete trumpet, and plastic made from milk.

I try to minimise advertising my own work here, but honestly, having pre-orders makes a real difference to the visibility of books, and is ultimately how I earn my living. So if you have the capacity to place one, I would be most grateful. In return, I will always keep this free (while being endlessly grateful to those who choose to pay anyway).

And my thanks to Robert Sae-Heng for bringing the book to life with his outstanding and funny illustrations.

Right! On to…

Consuming

Mother Mary Comes to Me

Arundhati Roy’s books are always an intense pleasure. For me, this particularly resonates as I lived in India during the 90s. Roy discusses her complex and often abusive relationship with her mother, living in a variety of different contexts in India, and the political backdrop to that part of her life. Beautiful writing, deep and layered story-telling.

Indignity

I don’t know much about the politics and history of eastern Europe, so this was a total eye-opener for me. Lea Ypi traces her grandmother’s story when she sees a photograph of her on social media, one she hadn’t seen before. What was life like for Leman Ypi as a young girl, and woman, during a tumultuous time in the region? She reimagines her life, writing it in an almost fictional tone.

Death of an Ordinary Man

There are many books about death and grief, this one stood out for its microscopic look at the final days of the author’s father-in-law’s life. From diagnosis to death, Sarah Perry examines the emotions surrounding her family, the practicalities of end of life care, and the devastating degeneration of a man whom she loves like a father.

Artists, Siblings, Visionaries

This is a biography of two siblings who are artists — Gwen and Augustus John. A key difference being their gender. Augustus, a wild, womanising, carefree artist who finds fame in his lifetime. Gwen, an unassuming but independent creator who’s genius isn’t appreciated until after her life. Judith Mackrell does an astounding job of telling this complex story with warmth and heart, and it made me obsessively look at both artists’ paintings online.

Character

Since I’ve mentioned Gwen John in the last book of the list above, let’s find out more about her. The link reveals her work, which I’m sure you’ll agree is fascinating! Or not, tell me what you think.